BY SUSANNE ROBBINS

So I'm walking down the Red Carpet at the Mann Chinese theatre. Giving high fives to Will Smith, Adrien Brody, and Emile Hirsch. I pinch Sir Anthony Hopkins' tush, nothing but the best for the knighted one. I stroll past Jason Lee, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Ice Cube. I bypass the press line because we all know what a pain the press can be. Stop to talk to Virginia Madsen, tell her how she was robbed at the Oscars, you know stroke the ego a little. Look I'm not a name dropper but when Tom and Katie invited me to hang with them for a night to view WAR OF THE WORLDS I first asked who was going to be there? Of course I'll go I told them, only if you promise to keep the cameras off me. They did their part and I helped do mine and what an amazing movie it was.

Mind you I have nothing to compare this to as I have yet to see the original. Of course in many ways I am glad that I had no clue where we were going with this film, it seemed to make it even more intense. Intense is the best way for me to describe this film. Someone asked me how it compares to say Independence Day. It doesn't, I loved ID I really did, but this movie did something I noticed a movie hadn't done for me in a long time, I found myself with my arms crossed through most of the movie. Not because I didn't want to touch the people who hogged the arm rests next to me, but because I couldn't relax. I don't think I really need to go into the story we pretty much know it. Aliens have been watching us for years and have decided now is the time to invade our planet. They begin to zap us one by one, causing destruction wherever they go. Attacking major cities at first and driving us out of our homes. Or what is left of our homes and cities, most of them are a pile of rubble at this point. Ray played by Tom Cruise is taking care of his estranged children for a weekend while his wife and her new husband take a trip. The film is not only about the aliens but about the journey that Ray goes through personally. He begins as a selfish boy man and ends up a hero and a father to his children - Rachel played by the ever screaming Dakota Fanning and his son Robbie played by Justin Chatwin, tell me this guy does not remind you of a young John Cusack. When the Aliens begin to attack, mind you they get right into it from the start of the film, Ray knows he needs to take his children to safety and get them back to their mother. Simple thought but the aliens have other ideas. Through all of this the three struggle to pull together as a family even though all the odds are against them. Also a nice little cameo by the ever creepy Tim Robbins adds a little comic relief along with that eerie not too sure if all the marbles are in the bag feeling.

Spielberg has done it again and I truly mean it. This film is so amazing visually and has some parts to it that deal with human nature in a crisis that were not only realistic but truly scary. Pay attention to the end as there is a little homage to the original movie, which I am sure you die hard folks will really enjoy. Do yourself a favor and do not skimp on this one, see it in a theatre with the most amazing sound system that you can get your hands on. Why? Because the sound is another element that truly makes this movie what it is. Look I am not going to blow smoke and tell you it is without some moments of you scratching your head saying "wait a minute?" Get past all that and enjoy the movie.

I am an action Sci-Fi lover, so I will HIGHLY recommend this movie in fact I can not wait to go check it out again. I hope you too enjoy the experience...